Best Vintage Car Racing Photo of 2016

Simply vote by leaving a comment below indicating which photo is your favorite image. If you feel that we’ve overlooked a particular picture, please nominate a candidate by linking to the picture in your comment. We will announce the winner in the January 21st edition of our newsletter and in the comment section.

We will randomly choose THREE winners from the comments to receive a SCD T-Shirt and sticker combo, so be sure to include your email address in the comment form so we can reach you. In order to win, you must also be a subscriber to Sports Car Digest Weekly, so sign up for our free newsletter if you haven’t already.

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I agree the Tight Formation of the Aston Martin and two Healeys is my favorite. Definitively belongs on the wall for the memorabilia of the antiquities. To imagine the sweet sound of those engines at full chat is still heart stopping.

A vote for “Slippery AC Cobra at the Goodwood Revival (photo: Julien Mahiels)”. Really though it is a vote in appreciation of Julien’s use of light in his compositions to bring us a selection of unique images. Well done Julien.

Absolutely agree. While all the photos are award worthy, this one stopped me in my tracks (no pun…well maybe a small one…. intended) as it seemed to have been painted on canvas. It has the look of being done relative to the subjects’ age, and tells a wonderful timeless story. It could hang proudly in any setting.

Bentley Super Sports makes a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally (photo: Gerard Brown)
I love this photo.
It captures the essence of driving hard in the elements,
and the challenges the drivers and mechanics had to endure at all costs to win.
The headlights on adds a warmth and purpose.
The photo is taken at just the right millisecond for the splash to be perfect!

What I enjoy most about Sports car Digest is the great photographers, their incredible work and their timing!

Once again, it is difficult this year to choose one of these images as the best vintage car racing image for SCD. It’s even more difficult when 4 of my images are also being considered. After looking at all the images submitted, several times I might add, my choice goes towards the Jaguar XJR-14 at the Silverstone Classic captured by Matt White. The colors and composition are just amazing!

Other noteworthy images are of the Maserati 250F at the LSR Invitational and the McLaren M6A at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion captured by Dennis Gray. And Julien Mahiels’ images of the Porsche 917K at the Goodwood Members Meeting and the Lots of Italian red in the Richmond Trophy at Goodwood Revival were standouts for me.

Other worthy mentions go out for The Lancia D50s were crowd favorites at the Lime Rock Historics captured by Michael DiPleco and Bentley Super Sports makes a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally captured by Gerard Brown

Congrats to all the great images that were selected for consideration for SCD’s Best Vintage Car Racing Photo of 2016.

This is a tough decision. How do you choose? Is the action depicted the criteria, the pure artistic nature of the shot or the rarity of the cars involved? As a picture framer, art dealer and photographer for the past 40 years, I have to go with the artistic aesthetic to make my choice, even though any shot with a Porsche 356 or Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta has a strong personal pull for me. But, my pure artistic side wins out so here are my top 5, based on artistic impact:

I would have been thrilled if I had taken almost any of the photos that we had to choose from. Your photographers are immensely talented and amaze me every week. All of us who subscribe to SCD are lucky to get the feast for the eyes we receive in our inbox every week and I have to thank SCD for that. You all are wonderful.

I respectfully request to award two photos with the top prize since I can’t choose between them! First of all from a color photography point of view the Jaguar XJR-14 at the Silverstone Classic by Matt White is absolutely stunning. But then from a cool as can be point of view the Crossed-up 1905 Darracq 200hp at the Goodwood Members Meeting by Tim Scott also blows me away. To see anyone driving a 1905 car that hard with all the onlookers in the background is simply amazing and frankly what it’s all about. My hats off to both photographers as well as to your website and newsletter once again.

To be a perfect pedant only one of the chosen photos shows a ‘vintage’ motor car – the Bentley in a puddle. The rest are ‘post war classics’ with one ‘Edwardian’! My favourite is the Shelby Cobra getting a bit squirrelly on the way into Lavant at the Revival. You wonder if he got it back into shape or rotated and the patterns in the spray are interesting.

Hard to select just one picture, but the Datsun 240Z on the 8,500-mile Peking to Paris (photo: Gerard Brown) does it for me. Fantastic image – I can almost hear the engine screaming and the stones and gravel flying!!

My vote has to go to the Jaguar XJR-14 at the Silverstone Classic (photo Matt White)
Followed by a close second by the Tight Formation at the Silverstone Classic (also by Matt White)
Third has to be the Bentley Supersports makes a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally (Photo: Gerard Brown)

Very diffcult beautiful photos. My choise is the Maserati 450S at the Bernina Gran Turismo (photo: Alberto Novelli)
In a Maserati on the Bernina Pass between Switzerland and Italy, that’s classic racing

Hi Mr Hitzel, if you are the Hitzel who is mention in the article “to restore or not to restore, I now own that 1931 Chevrolet and am restoring it. I would really like to talk with you to get all the information that you know about it. If you would be kind enough to Call or email me at 434 239 6511 or email [email protected] My name is Otto Vallastro, you may Google my name to see that I am not a robot. Thank you in Advance Otto

Hi Mr Hitzel, If you read this, please call me at 434 239 6511, I have the car from the article “to restore or not to restore” I have restored it and would like to get all the history you know about the car and share the pictures of it after it restoration. Thanking you in advance, Otto
Second try to contact you.

Can’t choose. Marvelous work.
Have to choose?
Jaguar XJR-14 @ The Silverstone Classic (Matt White)
Dynamic Shadow DN4 at The Mitty (David Ferguson)
These bring back memories: weeks in the shop and on the road, then the track.
Even the smells “ring bells”
You do it for us, to us!
Thank you.

To me the ultimate is a vintage race car really racing; not just touring the track but making that car do the things it was designed to do –
a) Crossed-up 1905 Darracq 200hp at the Goodwood Members Meeting – hands down this is the best. That car is 111 years old !
b) Porsche 356A Coupe on the 8,500-mile Peking to Paris

The Scarab MK1 Embodied a higher level of private involvement in 60’s racing. Probably the ultimate California effort.
By far the best looking cars, paint scheme etc. color of the day. To this day ones’ eye is drawn to it immediately.

The picture of Indianapolis with so many different cars on track, is my choice. I’m of an age to enjoy all forms of Motor Sport Racing, This year to treat myself for my 69th Birthday i attended the SVRA meeting in June 2016. Wonderful, so this picture means so much. Coopercarman. David J Leeke

Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but you fellows certainly make choosing a favorite difficult. Thanks to your photographers’ keen eyes, we have an embarrassment of riches arrayed before us, as in previous years. If I must make but one choice, the one that speaks to me the strongest is Gerard Brown’s shot of a 356A at the Peking to Paris Rally – seeing any Porsche in this position is fairly unusual, and he captures some intense motion and energy here; framing the classic-car-at-speed in the foreground against the timeless desert in the background presents a unique opportunity, and he gives us a moment that is historic, dramatic, archival, artistic, dangerous, dynamic and heartening at the same time; and of course, his understanding of composition, light and circumstance in the pursuit of his mind’s eye displays a superb and sophisticated instinct. Well done, sir. And to all of you.

Whew! .

Thanks, SCG, for making this exercise a dilemma I look forward to every year.

It is difficult for me to choose between these beautiful photos. Anyway I really like the Maserati 250F at the LSR Invitational, maybe because that car is one of the most beautiful race cars ever built. Congratulations to all the photographers of the team and thanks for another year of filling us with so much pleasure.
Un abrazo from Argentina.

Maserati 250F at the LSR Invitational. Perfect color, depth, and focus, with just a tiny blur on the front tires expressing motion…and an excellent demonstration of Ackermann, either that or a bent steering arm!

Thank you Sports Car Digest, for bringing such wonderful events and talent to all of us. I had a conversation with another photographer, Is it the Car or the beauty of the shot?
I believe it is both. My picks, and I will say I admire Juliens Mahiels use of light and flow of the track and car.
1- Slippery AC Cobra- beautiful car, in the rain, on the edge. Juliens Mahiels
2- Pierrick Dupaquier- 250 GT SWB- The car, the mood, the capture. Stunning
3- Gerald Browns- Bentley at The Flying Scottsman.
I must mention- Matt White and that excellent shot of the Jaguar XTR, Crossed up by Tim Scott, and that Incredible Alfa T33/3 .
Thanks and congrats to all.
Michael

For 2016 I will vote for the Bentley framed in water droplets. (if for emotional reasons though I would go with the Scarab as it was the very first race car I had anything to do with back when it was first built).

Bentley Super Sports makes a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally (photo: Gerard Brown)
Having raced a Vintage Bentley in the past for many years, this has to be it!
Too bad there are not more Vintage Bentley choices.

Very difficult to choose between ‘Tight Formation Silverstone Classic,’ technically and artistically brilliant and ‘Bentley Super Sports Flying Scotsman Rally.’ For me the Bentley just takes first place – you look at the photo, you hear that big booming Bentley noise and you know that a muddy shower is going to hit you !

Barry Goldsmith
There were many beautiful shots, all well done making it difficult to assess which was actually the best of all. For that reason I have rated my choices as one through four, with one being my first choice of the best at what most expresses what vintage racing and rallying is all about.
1. Bently Super Sports splash at the flying Dutchman Rally by Gerard Brown
2. Start of the Kinara Trophy Race at the Goodwood Revival by Julien Mihiels
3. Lots of Italian Red in thw Richmond Trophy at the Goodwood revival by Julien Mihiels
4. Spa six hours at night by Matt White

Thanks for sharing these. What a wonderful collection of images from a very talented group of photographers. Not a bad shot in the group, all conveying a different message. I must agree with those who selected Matt White’s shot of the Jag XJR14 for its composition and brilliant colors…and Tim Scott’s photo of the crossed-up Darracq at Goodwood…amazing to see a centenarian being driven in anger…That must have been a sight to behold!

Congratulations to all of these shooters – I wish I could do a fraction as well!

Being a lover of cars and Vintage Racing it would be like a parent having to decide which was their favorite child. Porsche 917K would have to get the first nod. As an automotive artist, the lines of that car evoke emotions of brute power combined with true sculpture. The car moves when it’s standing still. Next, would have to be the Formula One cars of the 50’s, Maserati, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo. Cars that dared the driver to master them. Then, there are the obvious with any Shelbys and Porsches leading the way. What an enjoyable poser.

This is a list of the photographs that caught my attention and had me looking at the details for awhile, with my thoughts on each.

Page 1, the crossed up Darracq, by Tim Scott.
Every detail in this shot is great: the concentration of the driver, the almost dead on angle of the shot, the spectators in the background almost unanimously focused on this car, the lean angle of the chassis. If I were Tim, I’d title this “5 Degrees to Starboard”

Page 2, The Bentley Super Sports, by Gerard Brown
What’s not to like about this image? I love the 3 “horizons”: the splash, the near ridge and the far ridge. A perfectly captured moment. Superb!

Page 4, Porsche 356A, by Gerard Brown
My only issue with this shot is that it’s not centered as well as I would like it to be.

Page 4, Datsun 240Z, by Gerard Brown
I love the fact that this picture, while a moment in time, captures the passage of the car with the dust contrail.

Page 4, Lancia Stratos, by Julien Mahiels
Julien is a favorite of mine. He has a great eye for framing his shots, and this, in my opinion, is the best example of a beautifully framed shot from this year’s nominees.

Page 7, Sports Racers at the Oldtimer GP, by Julien Mahiels
A special nod to Julien for what is probably the most difficult shot to capture among this year’s nominees, lighting, focus and action all captured perfectly.

So, for me it came down to Tim Scott’s Darracq and Gerard’s Bentley, and to be honest, I can’t decide. I’d love to have both of these images hanging on my wall.

Therefore 1/2 vote for each!

And a vote for making these images available for purchase in 8.5 x 11 or 11 x 17, suitable for framing!

I’m going to vote for the crossed-up Darracq at Goodwood. It captures a primitive, if not ancient, effort to keep control of a race car in this marvelous sport, a rare image of an old battle that’s changed and yet not.

All of them are very nice photos, but my top 3 are:
The Bentley Super Sport making splash at Flying Scotsman Rally
The Jaguar XJR-14 at the Silverstone Classic
The AC Cobra slippering at Goodwood Revival

I will second that vote – awesome colors, lighting, the car itself, the venue and the significance of the 50th anniversary year for the GT 40. With that said, the overall album of photos was really impressive.

Tight formation at the Silverstone Classic (photo: Matt White). The picture where the tension between racing drivers and the cars is great. And iconic cars on a famous playground! I wish to make a picture like this one once!

The 111 year old Crossed-up 1905 Darracq at Goodwood. Getting a somewhat irreplaceable car sideways captures the spirit of motor racing. For those who share my curiosity about incongruous numbers 1905 – 200 hp a link http://theoldmotor.com/?p=134988

When you look for Vintage Racing or Racing Teams, I think of Gulf Porsche 917’s who won in the 70’s and placed : 1-2-3. Dennis Gray’s picture of three iconic Gulf Porsche 917s at Rennsport Reunion as our best vintage car racing photo.

So many great shots that it is almost impossible to choose – might there be the making of a coffee table book there? Anyway, and because choosing we had to, my favorite this year is the Datsun 240Z on the 8,500-mile Peking to Paris from Gerard Brown – that plume of dust….. Stunning. And well done to all again!

Gerard Brown’s Bentley Super Sport splashing through the puddle: one of the most magnificent photos I’ve ever seen of ANY subject! It has perfect exposure, subject, action, perspective, composition– it’s brilliant!

As son of the former Dutch racing driver Lex Beels (1918 – + 2005), who actively raced for a living on the European circuits during his racing career from 1935 till 1960, it is a joy to revive part of my youth, having been on the European racing circuits with him on many occasions, from 1951 to 1961. Many of the later well known Formula 1 drivers started with F3 and were good friends, unfortunately some good friends, as Peter Collins, Mike Stuart, Joachim Bonnier, Wolfgang Berge von Trips, Lorenso Bandini, Carel Gaudin de Beaufort passed away far too early.

He raced the following cars
Alfa-Romeo 8C between 1932 and 1949, Like 2000 Kilometers from Germany, Grand Prix from Rheims, Chimea, Silverstone, Goodwood
Ford Alpine V8 for the official Ford Team in the 1936 Rallye de Monte Carlo
Cooper Jap 1949 -1951, many formula 3 events throughout the European continent and England
Beels (own build car) with Jap engine 1951 Winner and 4th place on Avus Germany.
Cooper Norton later converted to fuel injection and very fast 1951 – 1957 Racing at Zandvoort, Branch Hatch, Silverstone, Nürburgring, Modena, Monaco, Sweden, Finland, Spain, France, DDR and Jugoslavia
Cooper Formel Junior with 1000 cc two stroke DKW Auto Union Engine, releasing 92 horsepower against the mini with 78 Hp during those days

He owned 2 cars and had always one or even 2 cars rented out to the following drivers: Pim Richardson, Jack Allison Davis, Will Tervoren, Randy Reece, Rob Slotemaker, Gijs van Lennep (borrowed the Cooper for one race in Zandvoort) and Jos Saveniers a Belgian driver, who raced for the last 3 years for the Beels Racing Team in Formula 3 and Formula Junior.

Lex stopped racing in 1960 after a fatal crash of our driver Jos Saveniers in Salerno with the Cooper formel junior car. The car wreck was conviscated by the Italian police and it toke them 5 years to give it back. We waited 2 months in Italy for the court case, as 2 other persons were also killed during the crash. We were obliged to return to Holland, well after the season without part of our our racing equipment, which was sold to pay for the expenses inquired over there, while waiting for the car release

Strangely enough all the racing car constructors went dead silent and didn’t offer any help, apart of Collin Chapman, who wrote us a letter indicating his regrets for what had happened and he offered a brand new Lotus Formula Junior car on credit for the 1960 season, very generously without asking for any money right away. We never forgot this great gesture, which we couldn’t accept and remained good friends.

Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 at Le Mans Classic (photo: Julien Mahiels)
After several reviews of the images selected, I vote for this shot of the Porsches, in the dark with one in tight focus and another, blurred in close pursuit.

So many beautiful shots, and very difficult to pick a favorite. I like a lot of the Mille Miglia / Tour Auto photos that capture the spirit of open-road racing from the ’50s. But my pick out of the group has to be my favorite Group C car of all, the XJR-14:

I would choose the Bentley Super Sports at the Flying Scotsman Rally, photo by Gerard Brown. The way the water is splashing and the “eye” looking headlights bring this picture to life. The 1905 Darracq at Goodwood was a very close second. The driver in that picture looks fearless.

So many great shots! I love the #3 cars massive burnout at the ‘Start of the RAC Touring Trophy Celebration at the Goodwood Revival’. The ‘Bentley Super Sports makes a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally’ is epic.

But the ‘Porsche 356A Coupe on the 8,500-mile Peking to Paris’ fighting gravity (and winning!) is just too cool and my #1 favorite.

Keep up the great work. I look forward to your magnificent work gracing my inbox every week!

Thanks so much for all those beautiful photographs, especially those showing cars in either dramatic off-road action, like the Bentley or the Porsche 356A, or racing on one of those old-type racetracks, like the Nuerburgring or Goodwood. Don’t those photos of the 917K or of the Darraque at Goodwood, or of the 356A at the Pittsburg Vintage Classic, or, finally, of the sports racers racing into the evening sun at the Nürburgring conjure up that glorious past of true road racing, when cars still looked like they could be driven on regular roads? Like at the Targa Florio, for instance? Which is why my favorite photo is the one by Alberto Novelli of the Maserati 450S at the Bernina Grand Turismo hillclimb, the houses in the background looking very much like some at the Targa, and the big 450S being the one Maserati that should have rightfully won the 1957 World Sports Car Championship.

Matt White’s capture of the Jaguar XJR-14 at Silverstone stands out among the many great choices. Among the images that made this a difficult selection are Tim Scott’s crossed up Darracq and Julien Mahiel’s Ford GT40 at the Goodwood members meeting.

Sooooo many great photos captured by outstanding photographers, but I will take the All American Greenwood Corvette at Le Mans!!! Outstanding image with lighting, shadows, and sillouett of a car with an interesting story!

After a record number of overall votes, readers chose Gerard Brown’s outstanding capture (page two) of the Bentley Super Sports making a splash at the Flying Scotsman Rally as our best vintage car racing photo of 2016.

The second favorite image was Tim Scott’s impressive photo of the crossed-up 1905 Darracq 200hp (page one) at the Goodwood Members Meeting, followed by Matt White’s stunner (page six) of the Jaguar XJR-14 at the Silverstone Classic.

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments and votes. They were as fun to read as looking at the pictures.

While I heartily endorsed the top two finishers, having given each 1/2 of my vote, the bronze medalist surprised me. Not that it didn’t deserve the podium, but that I had overlooked it in the 1st place. It didn’t even make my “top 6”. As the vote notifications poured in, and many were for the XJR-14, I went back to find it and when I did, I thought “how the heck did I miss that”. It is a gorgeous image and well deserving of the podium. Congratulations to Gerard Brown, Tim Scott and Matt White. All are worthy of the #1 spot. 3 completely different vehicles and eras, 3 completely different settings and 3 completely different actions, and yet all 3 photos are so outstanding. I’d be curious to know how close the voting was among these 3.